Venezuela has announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen, accusing them of plotting to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro. The arrests were first announced Saturday by the country's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who said that one of the Americans is Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez - a Navy SEAL - who state television said served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Colombia.
Cabello alleged this was all part of another CIA plot to overthrow the Maduro government, which comes after Washington has contested the official results July 28 election which ensured the longtime strongman another six-year term as leader.
Cabello further held up rifles he claimed were used by the six foreigners as part of the anti-government plot. Below is an image circulated by state media of Gomez, who is being described as an active elite SEAL...
While the United States is of course vehemently denying that it is behind any plot to assassinate or overthrow Maduro, the State Department did offer confirmation that at least one of the arrested men is a military servicemember:
The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of "unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela."
However, the statement emphasized that "Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela."
And yet the whole bizarre saga is eerily familiar. In 2020 a former US Green Beret who ran a private security firm in Florida assembled a team for what ended up being a failed amphibious raid by a ragtag group of soldiers out of Colombia on Venezuela's shores.
The former Beret, Jordan Goudreau, later faced federal charges for failing to have an export license for assault rifles, ammunition, silencers, night vision goggles, and other military items which had been sent to Colombia.
The Associated Press had summarized of that 2020 incident:
Despite the setbacks, the coup plotters went forward in a comical if tragic way in what was widely ridiculed as the “Bay of Piglets,” in reference to the 1961 Cuban fiasco. The group was easily mopped up by Venezuela’s security forces, which had already infiltrated the group. Two of Goudreau’s former Green Beret colleagues spent years in Venezuela’s prisons until a prisoner swap last year with other jailed Americans for a Maduro ally held in the U.S. on money laundering charges.
This might explain why Venezuelan security services are perhaps extra paranoid when they come across a group of Americans and foreigners which include a member of an elite US military forces. Even common American citizens have been told by the US State Department to avoid all travel in the Latin American country.
This summer Maduro has been cracking down hard on "far right" opposition movements which he says have the backing of the CIA and other external agitators.
In this current case of the detained six foreigners, it's as yet unclear the precise circumstances of what they were doing when apprehended, but based on past instances Caracas is likely to use their imprisonment to gain concessions from the US government.
Just days ago the US Treasury imposed fresh sanctions on a number of Maduro officials and entities, accusing them of obstructing Venezuela's voting process and rigging the election. The US has declared it won't recognize the results of Maduro's "win" - but has yet to go so far as to declare an opposition "Interim President" as it previously did for years with Juan Guaidó.